The Return of the King: Analyzing the Lord of the Rings’ Box Office Results
The Lord of the Rings movies are widely recognized as a cultural phenomenon and a benchmark for fantasy film-making. The trilogy by Peter Jackson, based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels, has undergone significant changes in its success since its initial release in 2001. When comparing the box office success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy to its third trilogy, The Hobbit, it becomes clear how Jackson’s second trilogy ended The Lord of the Rings’ $1 billion streak and the franchise’s descent.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy’s box office success followed an upward curve until it reached the landmark $1 billion mark in the third installment, “The Return of the King”. The first film in the trilogy, “Fellowship of the Ring,” grossed $894 million worldwide, while its successor, “The Two Towers,” earned $921 million. The final instalment, “The Return of the King,” solidified the trilogy’s fame with a worldwide gross exceeding $1.1 billion.
In contrast, while “An Unexpected Journey”, the first film in “The Hobbit” trilogy, made nearly as much as “The Return of the King”, its following instalments failed to eclipse the $1 billion benchmark. The box office stagnation of the “The Hobbit” trilogy reveals how Jackson’s second undertaking ultimately faltered in generating the same level of admiration as his initial trilogy.
